Sources for North Korea’s Missile Development Debated
Iran is the key suspect; Ukraine has denied supplying Soviet-era rocket technology
North Korea's Hwasong-14 ICBM on display at a military parade in Pyongyang. (US National Air and Space Intelligence Center - NASIC)
North Korea's Hwasong-14 ICBM on display at a military parade in Pyongyang. (US National Air and Space Intelligence Center - NASIC)

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea's (DPRK) numerous test firings of ballistic missiles and underground nuclear tests have raised many questions about how it gained these advanced capabilities. In particular, how and from where did this isolated nation with a struggling economy acquire the necessary technologies to develop these weapon systems? Former Soviet republics are blamed in some reports, but Iran is named by some sources in the U.S. intelligence community.